Deanna Clarise (Tveit) Brekke

Born January 5, 1951 Roseau, MN - Died July 22, 2023 Rock Island, IL

On the night of July 22, 2023, Deanna (Tveit) Brekke went on her final trip to be home with the Lord. She passed away peacefully, surrounded by family singing to her at her home in Rock Island, IL after a short battle with leukemia.

Some plants are made to grow in the sunshine and some are made to grow in the shade. Deanna was a shade plant and stayed rooted and grounded while letting others have the light. She was born in Roseau, MN and grew up in Parkville, MN. She was a cheerleader and A & W Root Beer server but in doing so, realized the life of a bubbly popular girl was not for her. To her, a girls' night out was camping. She was the second daughter of Warren and Vivian Tveit, and shared a small home (and even smaller bathroom) with her four sisters Dawn, Linda, Luann, and Deb Tveit. After graduating from Mt. Iron High School in 1969, she attended a Medical Tech Lab program in Hibbing, MN, where she met her best friend and soulmate, Daryl Brekke. After a few years of friendship, they decided to get married before going out west on a motorcycle trip. They married on September 17, 1971, and drove off on her motorcycle to begin their first of many adventures together.

She and Daryl planted their roots in Colorado, where she became the first female cabinetmaker's apprentice in the state. They bought land and drilled a dry well, got robbed, laughed about it, and moved on to Oregon before eventually moving back to northern Minnesota where they raised their three girls Angie, Bree, and Abby. Helping others was a part of daily life. The kids grew up camping, taking care of animals, sewing, music lessons, cooking, tracking black bears, and volunteering for the Department of Natural Resources. "Be kind and find something useful to do" was the example she set for the family.

When the girls were older, Deanna went back to school and graduated as a registered nurse from Hibbing Community College. Education was always important to her.  From teaching her children to earning her own certifications and degrees, she believed that "with education, there is always a return on the investment - just not always monetary." She received education in lab tech, a Bachelor's in Biology with the college of St. Scholastica, and advanced coursework in medicine at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She worked for a few years but later moved with Daryl to Rock Island, IL to retire. Most of her retired life was invested as a grandmother, babysitting and attending all nine grandkids' sports, driving them to practices and bundling up to watch hockey in the cold. She was their biggest cheerleader and took all the kids and grandkids on trips to share the world with them.

Despite her extensive education and experience, Deanna found that the greatest life lessons were learned in nature. After being bluff charged by moose and bear, she learned that "fear tries to grab you, and if you don't hold your ground it'll get you. But fear runs away." She cross country skied in northern Minnesota, biked through the five boroughs of New York City, and hiked through many states and countries. Her sense of adventure led to her walk over 500 miles on the Camino in Spain where she learned to "be careful about what you carry with you, emotionally and physically. Make sure it's worth the cost of carrying it." In New Zealand, she was moved by profound kindness and the most beautiful shades of green in nature shortly before the world shut down for COVID and brought out the worst in people. In Norway, her final venture abroad, she found peace and belonging that her Norsk ancestry is what gave her such rugged independence and love of nature. Sometimes she even remembered to take pictures of people instead of rocks and trees while on her many trips (but she usually needed reminders).

Deanna's is preceded in death by her parents, Warren and Vivian Tveit. She is survived by her husband of over 50 years, Daryl Brekke. Her independence, wit, and love of nature lives on in her daughters and their children:  Angie (Jason) Fisher and Kellen, Reese, Julien, and Anders Fisher of Hibbing, MN, Briana (Andy) Boswell and Isaac, Kal, and Vanessa "Grace" Boswell of Rock Island, IL, Abby (Jeremy) Blair, and Sam and Will Blair of Mundelein, IL. She is also survived by her sisters: Dawn McIntyre of Albuquerque, NM, Linda (Bob) Clark of Kenora Ontario, Luann Lindberg (Danny Urquhart) of Albuquerque, NM, and Deb Tveit of Longmont, CO.

A Celebration of Deanna's life will be held from 4:00-7:00pm Monday August 21, 2023 at the House Church, Rock Island. In lieu of flowers, please take a walk in the woods or make a donation to Great Old Broads for the Wilderness. And if you could pickup your own trash, that would be nice too. She's not around to clean up the parks anymore.

"Death is going home. It's like the leaves in fall, a big burst of color just before they fall off, drop to the ground, and fertilize to support new growth." -Deanna Brekke